THERMAL DECOMPOSITION OF SODIUM BICARBONATE

The thermal decomposition of sodium bicarbonate, a candidate material for Hue gas desulfurization, has been investigated over the temperature range of 225-350°F (380-450K) and over the particle size range of 51 -140 μm. The shrinking core model, with chemical reaction as the rate controlling step, provides a good fit to the data in the temperature range investigated. However, caution should be exercised in extrapolating these results into the range of about 600°F (about 590K) where sintering of this material is reported to occur. The activation energy of the decomposition reaction is 20.5 kcal/mol (85.7 kj/mol)